Federal suits filed in October 2001 determined that the most Silverstein could collect for losses sustained in the September 11 attacks would be $4.68 billion. Insurance companies have already paid about $2.55 billion, and the settlement resolved the remaining sum. Spitzer's office said that the settlement, which was the biggest obstacle to reconstruction at the World Trade Center site, "will save additional tens of millions in legal costs and allow the Port Authority and Silverstein Properties to focus on rebuilding at Ground Zero." Prior litigation has cost Silverstein and the insurance companies hundreds of millions of dollars.

Coldwell Banker spokesman David Siroty says the case is about O'Neal's -- quote "refusal to pay royalty fees and return a sizable development advancement loan," both of which date back to 2004, the year before the storm.

Siroty says the case predates the hurricane, though the lawsuit also claims O'Neal continued to use Coldwell Banker trademarks and business systems after she abandoned the franchise system in late 2005.

Between court dates in Louisiana, O'Neal says she barely has time to build relationships with new loan officers, mortgage brokers or clients. Her cell phone constantly rings, and the calls are about new court motions as often as they are about potential business.

O'Neal started Danette O'Neal Realtors 16 years ago. She staked her business on helping black residents of New Orleans -- people of modest means and often less than perfect credit -- to become homeowners. In 2004, she says the agreed to partner with Coldwell Banker, but the arrangement wasn't as profitable as O'Neal had hoped. She says the franchise fees -- six percent of the commission -- were too much for her small business.

Coldwell poured 263-thousand dollars into O'Neal's business. She says she did not expect to have to pay the money back.

Within a month of Katrina, O'Neal said Coldwell sent a letter counting her franchise as a total loss.

Typically, attorneys say, abandonment of a franchise is a breach of contract.

In February, homeowners in the first federal insurance trial brought by Louisiana homeowners abruptly dropped their suit after Allstate alleged they misrepresented their claims. There are 350 lawsuits pending in Mississippi against insurance companies over the issue of whether insurance policies should cover water damage when the policies, as written, cover wind damage created by a hurricane, but not water damage by "wind-driven surge."

But he has no other details and terms weren't disclosed. Trial in the lawsuit was to begin April ninth. The Ropers sued when State Farm denied their claim after Hurricane Katrina reduced their Ocean Springs home to a slab in August 2005.

The couple sought more than $75-thousand in actual damages and an unspecified amount in punitive damages.

Tollison was not in his office Tuesday and was not immediately available for comment.

Scruggs is one of the nation's wealthiest trial attorneys. In the late 1990s, his Mississippi-based firm earned nearly $1 billion in fees for his part in reaching a landmark $250 billion settlement with tobacco companies.

He used that windfall to finance lawsuits against insurance companies for denying thousands of policyholders' claims after Katrina destroyed their homes.

Scruggs created a legal team, called the Scruggs Katrina Group, to represent the policyholders. SKG's work led to a settlement with State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. that will earn the attorneys about $26 million.

Those legal fees are at the crux of the lawsuit.

Zach Scruggs of Oxford, Scruggs' son and law partner, said Tuesday he could not immediately comment on the lawsuit.

Also named as defendants in the lawsuit are other members of the SKG team.

The lawsuit, which gives only one side of the legal argument, alleges that senior partner John G. Jones and other members of the Jackson law firm deposed witnesses, handled briefs, filed motions and other tasks for Scruggs' group.

Specifically, the lawsuit mentions Jones and his law firm's work on a July 2006 lawsuit, filed by SKG on behalf of Pascagoula police officer Paul Leonard against Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. over denial of Leonard's claim. Jones participated in the questioning of witnesses in that lawsuit.

State Farm Insurance will accelerate settlement payouts to Mississippi Gulf Coast residents whose homes were affected by Hurricane Katrina, according to Mississippi Insurance Commissioner George Dale Monday. Dale told Reuters that after the court delayed certifying a proposed settlement, he negotiated with State Farm "to bring closure for coastal homeowners." State Farm had originally reported that it would no longer write new policies to insure Mississippi home owners when the settlement was delayed, but Dale said his the resolution would discourage State Farm, Mississippi's largest insurer, from leaving the state. The agreement makes millions of additional dollars available to insured homeowners in three coastal counties.

In February, State Farm filed to have a judge removed from a Katrina class action lawsuit for bias. In January, a Mississippi jury held State Farm liable for $2.5 million dollars in punitive damages for rejecting a Katrina claim that State Farm said was due to wind before the storm rather than the hurricane itself. In the same month, State Farm agreed to settle with hundreds of Mississippi homeowners, but the judge rejected the proposed settlement.

In January, a Mississippi jury held State Farm liable for $2.5 million dollars in punitive damages for rejecting a Katrina claim that State Farm said was due to wind before the storm rather than the hurricane itself. In the same month, State Farm agreed to settle with hundreds of Mississipi homeowners, but Senter rejected the proposed settlement.